Staying
by KateToast
Summary: Keely doesn’t remember the moment she realized she liked Phil Diffy. Pheely oneshot, taking place after Back to the Future.


**Disclaimer**: _Phil of the Future_ is not mine.

**A/N**: Geez, I've gotten so many ideas for PotF fics lately for some reason! Thanks to those who read and reviewed my other story :)

This takes place after _Back to the Future_, so it's spoilery because currently that episode has yet to air in pretty much everywhere except Australia (I think?). You can think of it has one long, fluffy one-shot, or three short vignettes put together, and a little prequel-ish to _Peeking_.

**XXX**

There are tears on her eyelashes.

Actually, the tears were practically streaming down her cheeks now, leaving Keely Teslow to feel as if she had just splashed her face with a handful of water. _With salt_, she adds to herself silently as she licks her dry lips and tasts the tears. _Water with salt._

The day had been a momentous one. It had started off wonderfully; it was probably the first day in a long, long time where Keely had awoken to her alarm clock and not wanted to smash it with a bat. She had put extra time into finding _just_ the right outfit, putting on _just_ enough make-up so it stood out a little more than on most days, making sure her lips were glossed _just_ enough so that they looked inviting for her first kiss, but not too obvious in that it looked like she was trying too hard.

And she'd done all of this for him.

Keely doesn't remember the moment she realized she liked Phil Diffy. It might've been as recent as when they were voted cutest couple just the day before, though she has to admit to herself it's been much longer than that. Maybe it was when they were sitting under the stars at the picnic table in his backyard and he offered her a date (though it was the food kind, not the ask-out kind). It could've been when she had finally heard the story of how he had been the thing to save her from shame when the Pickford star had broken on her watch, or when he had made them a picnic for her birthday, or when they didn't go to the dance together and she had realized that she wanted to go with him more than she'd wanted nearly anything before. Maybe it had been when they had sat close together watching a tiny screen as her older self reported the news and she noticed the wedding ring on her finger, leaving both she and Phil to wonder who the husband was, or it may have been when he became jealous of the flirty surfer robot when they used the Virtu-Goggles to tour a future mall.

And as she thinks about all those moments, Keely realizes that maybe the moment she subconsciously started liking her best friend was the day they had _become_ friends and she had noticed his cute, quirky smile.

The smile she would never see again, outside of a small photo album of pictures she'd made of just the two of them.

_The future is an odd thing_, she muses as she makes the walk home from school alone for the first time in a long time. She doesn't really care if anyone sees her with her cheeks tear-stained or her eyes puffy and red.

Keely can still hardly imagine that over one hundred years from now people will be able to travel from year to year, decade to decade, century to century, as if they were taking a nice family vacation. The idea that time will someday be contained, and then manipulated and passed through as if driving down a highway, is unbelievable.

A lot of things she's learned about the future still seems unbelievable. The theories proved, the gadgets created, the lifestyles altered, the losing of the pinky toe…

It's now, after he's finally out of her life, that the tremendous weight of Phil's secret is starting to catch up with her.

She wonders, though, if _everything_ is different in the future. Specifically, if human nature is different. If people are happy and sad, or hate and love, in the same ways as people in the twenty-first century.

_Of course they're the same_, she scolds herself. Look at Mr. and Mrs. Diffy, how much they love each other… look at Pim, a scheming prankster really just trying to fit in… look at Phil, the perfect model for teenage guys everywhere…

Phil…

"Afternoon, Keely!" a neighbor calls suddenly, and Keely nearly jumps at the sound. She waves back half-heartedly before continuing on to her own house.

She wishes, now that he's gone, that she had told him her feelings sooner; that she had spilled her guts the moment she had an inkling about her more-than-friendly flutters for her best friend. They could've had more than one perfect day together; there could have been weeks, months, and (if they had been really forthcoming) over a year to spend together as a couple.

And as crazy as it is for a sixteen-year-old to feel, she would've had the chance to tell him that she was falling in love with him, that _he_ was her future, that there won't be anyone else quite like him. Keely hopes that Phil knows as much, at least in his heart if not consciously.

As she slowly climbs the few steps leading up to her home's front door, she quickly lets her gaze stray to a few houses down against her better judgment, but she is only met with a darkened, deserted residence, which just the day before had been filled with a loving, albeit a bit strange, family.

And then the tears start again, because Keely's remembered all over again that he isn't coming back.

**XXX**

"I can't believe you made us turn back around. We were so close! So. _Close_!" Pim wails dramatically in the time machine as the Diffy family cruises throughout time back towards 2006.

"Well we can't just leave a caveman from the prehistoric in the twenty-first century!" Barb defends, turning in her seat a little to look back towards her two children. "What if someone found out where he was from? And then they traced it back to us? We could have big problems when we get home!"

"Home…," Pim says fondly, then becomes cross seconds later. "Please. At this rate we're never going to get back to 2121!"

"We'll be there by tomorrow," Lloyd interjects, ending the growing argument. "All we've got to do is pop into 2006, grab Curtis, and be on our way again! You'll be going to school from home again by Monday."

Instead of responding, Pim chooses to cross her arms over her chest in a huff and stare at the wall beside her. Lloyd continues on as Barb randomly shouts out directions. After a long silence, she glances towards the back again.

"Phil, you've been awfully quiet," she comments kindly.

Phil shrugs in indifference and glances at his hands clasped together on his lap. "Nothin' to talk about," he mumbles. Barb and Lloyd share a knowing look, but don't mention anything more.

The time machine shutters as Lloyd brakes and veers into the exit for 2006. They navigate to the specific date and time they're looking for, and before they know it, the time machine is an RV again and is parked along the sidewalk in front of their old home once more. The street is dark, except for the streetlamps lining the sidewalk and the occasional illuminated window in neighboring houses.

All four stumble out noisily. "So much for being discreet…" Pim mutters, dusting herself off after being pushed onto the ground by everyone else's weight behind her.

"Okay," Lloyd starts. "Let's try to find him quick so we can head off again. We don't want the neighbors asking questions as to why we're back." The others nod and begin their search.

Phil decides to check the darkened backyard and garage while the other three head inside the house. He sighs softly as he wanders over the soft grass, already missing it despite his being there. Maybe coming back this third time hadn't been a good idea. Maybe he should've agreed with Pim and had their dad drop them off in 2121 before going back for Curtis. Maybe he should waited in the time machine.

Maybe he should go see Keely…

But no. He couldn't do that to her, or to himself. It was hard enough leaving her just this morning; how much more difficult would it be to see her once more tonight, this time knowing it was for good, that there was no reason to come back again?

Not for the first time, Phil wishes the time machine had broken for good. When there had still been a hope of returning to 2121 when he and his family had first gotten stuck in this century, he had never considered not wanting to return. But gradually, just as gradually as his relationship with Keely progressed, so did his accustoming to this time period, set far in the past from his own.

Just as he's about to open the garage door, Phil hears a yelp from inside the house, followed by exclamations of thankfulness that Curtis had been found.

"Phil! Let's go! We're finally ready to go home!" Pim calls joyfully from the back door, her voice just above a whisper, but her words still make Phil's heart constrict painfully.

He prolongs his walk into the house for as long as he can, making each fall of his foot count as the number of steps between he and his gathered family dwindle. He doesn't want to leave. He doesn't want to return to 2121, to the life that now, after two years, seems but a distant memory. He wants to live here in 2006, grow up as a twenty-first century teenager, attend a school you actually have to leave your house for, where you have to interact with hundreds of other people. He wants to get a license and a car and stress over college applications and graduate among his peers and work towards a profession he's chosen himself, one that might be obsolete in his old life. He wants to create his own success at whatever he does and buy his own house and have a family and watch as all of the gadgets and theories and historical events he already knows about be developed and proved and happen.

And he wants her with him during all of it.

"Dad, Mom, I don't want to leave," Phil states as he enter the dark living room, his parents, Pim, and Curtis all awaiting him. "I want to stay here, in this century."

"_What!"_ Pim shouts, scandalized. "Phil… you must be joking. You want to stay _here_ with all of these dumb people and their primitive ways?"

"Phil, honey, we know you don't want to leave Keely…" Barb begins, but her son cuts her off.

"No, it's not about her… well, not completely. Guys, just hear me out: what's wrong with this century?" Phil asks. Pim opens her mouth to respond, but he interrupts her. "Sure, they're far behind the time we're from, but haven't we gotten used to it over the past two years? Don't we enjoy this time now? Dad, you love working at the hardware store and using all of the old technology that isn't even around in 2121. And Mom, you've gotten to enjoy doing things the old-fashioned way, and you like learning about this time. And Pim…"

Pim narrows her eyes, and Phil decides to skip over her. "This time is home now, isn't it? I mean, who knows what's changed in our century? Think of all of the things we'll have to get used to again, all the people we've been away from… it'll all be different. So why should we bother going back if we love it here? Maybe we were meant to live in this century; our time machine was supposed to strand us here, and forgetting Curtis is a second chance for us, a chance we should take."

"Well, he does have a point…," Lloyd says slowly. "We all really do love this century. I like the hardware store."

"And I love this house," Barb adds in contemplation. Phil grins, knowing he's slowly convincing them.

"Are you all _insane!_" Pim questions in annoyance. "Don't let this kid wear you down! Stick up for yourselves! Remember: you want to go back! You _want_ to go _back_!"

"Curtis like this century," Curtis mentions with a shrug, thrown off by the conversation.

Lloyd takes a deep breath. "I think this calls for a family meeting. A _major_ one."

**XXX**

Keely sighs audibly for what feels like the millionth time that day. She blinks and keeps her eyes closed for an extra second, but when she opens them again, the same ceiling she's been staring at for half an hour is still looming above, all white and boring and empty, exactly how she feels. What did she expect, a sudden and unexplainable miracle that would place her somewhere else, wherever he was?

There's a knock at her opened door and Keely lifts her head only slightly to see who it is. "Come in," she says to her mother, Mandy Teslow, indifferently, letting her head fall back onto her pillows.

"Sweetie," her mother begins, "I know you're upset about Phil moving, but you can't just hide in your bedroom for the rest of your life."

"I know," Keely defends weakly. "I won't."

"It's a beautiful Saturday morning, why don't you walk to Via's house? Or maybe I can drive the two of you to the mall?" Mandy suggests, thinking this will lure her daughter out from her wallowing.

"No thanks," the sixteen-year-old replies, leaving her mother nearly speechless. Keely, not wanting to go to the mall with her best girl friend?

Keely blinks again, keeping her eyes shut for that extra second, yet still nothing is different when they open. Her mother doesn't understand; Phil wasn't just a friend who moved away. He wasn't even just a _best_ friend who moved away. He was a love who traveled back to the future, one hundred years from now to where he belongs, and she'd never see him again, never speak to him again.

It was a _much_ bigger deal than just 'moving'.

A frantic knock sounds from the front door downstairs, and Mandy shakes her head once before heading off to answer it, leaving Keely to return to her ceiling-contemplations. She should really paint her room. Maybe a nice yellow, or pink, or a light green, or blue (but that was his favorite color and she doesn't want to be reminded of him, so cross blue off the list).

She wonders, suddenly, what she'll do Monday at school without him. She doesn't have anyone to walk with her in the morning anymore, since most of her friends live a few blocks in the other direction of the school. And who was going to help her create the news broadcast; who was going to tell her she looked great right before going on camera or hold up her cue cards or help her discover the mysteries hidden in her latest investigation? Who was she going to hang out with after school every day, who was she going to go to for homework help? Who was going to make her laugh so hard her sides hurt or offer a strong shoulder to cry on or support her in whatever new endeavor she embarked on that day?

Who was she going to call her ultimate best friend? Who was she going to think of as the greatest boyfriend of _any _century?

Keely knows logically, of course, that she'll move on one day. It may be tomorrow, or a week from now, or a month, or around graduation, or ten years from now, but one day she'll realize she isn't stuck on this one event, this one guy, anymore. She'll graduate from Pickford Junior/Senior High School, not at the top of her class but right in the middle, average. She'll predictably go to college for journalism, maybe have some crap jobs at tiny little news stations before making it big. Then, just like she and Phil saw with the Giggle, she'll become a hard-hitting reporter (with a husband to boot).

It all seems less exciting now that he's gone.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone stare at a ceiling for so long without falling asleep."

Keely sits straight up on her bed, all the blood rushing to her head painfully. _No way_, she thinks, _There is no possible way…_

And this time when she blinks and waits that extra second, she's glad when she opens her eyes that everything in front of her is still the same.

"What are you doing here!" she squeals, jumping up to full height in front of her bed.

Phil Diffy stands awkwardly just inside Keely's bedroom. "Um… surprise?" he says sheepishly, holding his hands out for added effect.

"I can't believe this! I thought you and your family went back to the future?" Keely could hardly catch a breath, her mind racing faster than any brain should.

"Well… we did, sort of," Phil explains. "We were almost there but then we realized we had forgotten Curtis… so we had to come back, and when we did… we decided to stay here instead of go back to the future."

"Are you serious?" Keely asks skeptically. "This isn't some weird future joke, right?"

"I'm dead serious."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"Positive?"

"Extra-positive."

"Definit-"

"Keely, Keely, Keely," Phil interrupts with a sigh and an eye-roll, though his mouth is twitching towards a smile.

"Don't you triple Keely me, Phil Diffy!" she protests, but then laughs and pounces at him. As they hug tightly, she whispers into his ear, "I thought you had left me."

"I couldn't," he says slowly, also at a whisper.

Keely grins to herself and closes her eyes, trying to savor this moment for as long as possible. He was back. He wasn't staying in the twenty-second century, he was staying here with her. He was going to do everything involved in making the news broadcasts every day, and hang out with her during any free time they had, and help her with her homework, and make her laugh until she couldn't breathe, and be there when times were rough or she had a new zany project to do. He was going to graduate from high school with her and they'll go to college and he'll go through crap jobs with her and one day he'll watch her give the news as a big-shot reporter and maybe even present her with a beautiful ring for her finger.

They pull back and she suddenly has the urge to kiss him so passionately that he'll never forget it. So she does. And they both know: they'll never forget it.

There are tears on her eyelashes, and once again they're because of him. But this time, they aren't sad tears.

They're tears of joy and amazement and _possibility_.

**XXX**

_End._


End file.
